When I think back to all of the classes I have taken from elementary to high school, only a few stick out to me. This is because those are the few that I was actually engaged in. I looked forward to going to those classes. One of those classes is my third grade class. I know that the reason I loved that class so much was because I was engaged. I was challenged and I enjoyed it. My teachers made learning fun for us. They had relationships with each of us and they adapted to our learning styles. Another class is my seventh and eighth grade science class. I had the same teacher for both years. I remember being engaged in this class because of the different ways that the content was presented to us. We were always doing something hands on, creating things, watching videos, or doing other projects. I loved that class. The last class that sticks out to me the most is my colorguard class. I know that this is not a class that everyone takes because it is only for the colorguard. But with that being said, all four years of this class was amazing. A part of that may be because I loved colorguard but I believe a big portion of it came from the relationship I had with my teacher. She made a point to get to know us. She felt like a mother to us. This class is the class that I grew in.
I do think it is a bit sad that I could only think of three classes that I really felt engaged in, so I have plenty examples of classes that I did not feel engaged in. Some examples are my US History class in high school, my Chemistry class, and my Civics and Economics class. All of these were not classes that I looked forward to. The two history classes were made up of me taking notes everyday. There is nothing wrong with notes, but there is when that is all the students are doing constantly. Chemistry was not engaging for me like I feel it could've been. I now know that the reason none of these classes were engaging is because there was no differentiation and there was no relationships between the teacher and students.
To make instruction engaging, you first have to have a safe and welcoming environment. The students should feel comfortable in your classroom. You should also have relationships with the students. They should feel like they matter. And you should also understand that ALL students are different and they will learn differently. After you have created this atmosphere, you have to provide the learning that they need. You will need to make the content relatable and meaningful. Give them a reason to want to learn the content. If a student doesn't want to learn the content, they won't. Just giving worksheets will not help a student to learn, at least not ALL of them. Present the content in different ways; videos, books, hands on activities, projects. Putting students in groups also helps them to learn in different ways.
For my future classroom, I will create an environment that will make all students feel welcome and wanted. I will establish relationships with all of my students. I will also present the content that I am teaching in multiple ways so that every students' needs are met. I am excited to become a teacher and hopefully become one that I would have loved while in school. Another source that I had researched mentioned a quote by a teacher that really stuck out to me. She said " Our classrooms need to be as engaging as the world around our kids." (https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?article&articleid=678&category=In-the-classroom) I want to be the example that a student gives when speaking about the classes they were engaged in.
